New York rail commuters get access to Apple Pay in MTA eTix app

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People commuting by rail around New York state can now use Apple Pay or Masterpass to buy tickets and passes through the MTA eTix app, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced this week.









The two payment options can be used for both the Metro-North Railroad and Long Island Rail Road, Cuomo's office said. A full range of purchases are available, from one-way trips through to weekly or monthly passes.



Using Apple Pay with MTA eTix simply requires picking "Pay with Apple Pay" at checkout and authenticating with Touch ID. If a person hasn't already, though, they'll have to set up a credit or debit card in the iOS Wallet app.



The Long Island Rail Road extends eastward from New York City burroughs like Manhattan, Queens, and Brooklyn all the way to towns like Greenport and Montauk. While also serving parts of New York City, Metro-North lines extend farther afield, even reaching into New Jersey and Connecticut.



Vendor support has been one of the key obstacles to growing Apple Pay use, particularly in the U.S. While banks have been quick to jump on board, merchants have been much slower. In-app support is easier than retail though, since it doesn't involve upgrading point-of-sale terminals.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
     Lame. You shouldn't need extra apps for that.

    Edit: never mind I thought this used the NFC chip as a pass in which case it should just work without an app. I know some companies are resistant to this.
    edited October 2016
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  • Reply 2 of 7
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,394member
    This is awesome. 
    mike1retrogusto
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  • Reply 3 of 7
    jakebjakeb Posts: 563member
    Nice that they've done this but holy crap the MTA apps are bad. Whatever the procurement process is for apps is not accounting for quality. The best thing they could do would be to provide an API for ticket purchases and let a 3rd party make the app itself. 

    Or enable Apple Pay on the conductor's ticket terminal 
    calilolliver
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  • Reply 4 of 7
    JinTechjintech Posts: 1,092member
    Let's hope this sort of solution comes to the Bay Area soon via Clipper. 
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  • Reply 5 of 7
    calicali Posts: 3,494member
    jakeb said:
    Nice that they've done this but holy crap the MTA apps are bad. Whatever the procurement process is for apps is not accounting for quality. The best thing they could do would be to provide an API for ticket purchases and let a 3rd party make the app itself. 

    Or enable Apple Pay on the conductor's ticket terminal 
    This is what I'm thinking. There shouldn't even be an app you have to load if there's NFC terminals.
    lolliver
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  • Reply 6 of 7
    iChootaichoota Posts: 1unconfirmed, member
    Metro-North and LIRR stations don't have turnstiles like the subway (as they are commuter trains) and paper tickets are used for fares.  The app (while possibly of poor quality...I haven't seen it myself) is a step up from waiting on a long Penn Station line to purchase your ticket. 

    I've used NJTransit and NY Waterway apps and each save a ton of time. 
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  • Reply 7 of 7
    retrogustoretrogusto Posts: 1,154member
    Not having to worry about ticket lines and out-of-order machines is amazing. I would have saved a lot of time and even some money (since I ended up buying one ticket on the train at a higher price) if this had been available a few months ago. 

    And I definitely agree that the MTA apps tend to be surprisingly poor, but hopefully they'll improve with time. I know the "Subwaytime" app has. 
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